>> live from the berlin studios of dw, this is the "journal." >> with syria and mali in focus, world leaders convene for the munich conference. >> criticism in front of the presidential palace. >> it has become the byword for organized -- [no audio] -- celebrates its 100th birthday. thanks for joining us.

international leaders are gathering in bavaria for the annual munich security conference. the german defense minister opened the conference by focusing on the current conflicts in syria and moly -- mali and emphasizing the importance of ongoing cooperation between europe and the united states. them in the united nations has been gridlocked over syria for months, and often, these occasions provide a more informal opportunity for an exchange of ideas. one of the most prominent speakers will be vice president joe biden of the u.s., and he stopped off in berlin on the way to the meeting. >> the u.s. vice-president peter were when visit to the german capital and his first to the german chancellery. he held an equally brief press conference after talks with chancellor merkel, giving high praise for trans-atlantic relations. the two reportedly discussed conflicts in syria and moly --

mali but made no public statements on the matter. his next stop is munich for an annual security conference, a meeting of high-ranking international policy makers, and mali and syria will be at the top of the agenda. >> the situation in the entire region is very dangerous, and we have to prevent it from going up in flames. therefore, d escalation and a cautious approach are the order of the day. >> there will be high power talks on the sidelines of the munich conference, including wooing russia to join the coalition of countries opposed to the syrian regime. >> our political correspondent is also in munich to follow the conference for us there. the conflict in syria is likely to be high on the agenda. can we expect any developments? >> that's right. it is on the official agenda

both in a night owl session late tonight and also on sunday morning. it is very much on the unofficial agenda as well. one of the functions of the munich security conference is to serve as a venue for bilateral or multilateral meetings behind closed doors, given the fact that there are so many key players here, and on the syrian issue, they include both the head of the syrian opposition and also the united nations international envoy for syria. we also have the u.s. viper -- vice-president attending the conference and the russian foreign minister, it is more likely that in some consolation or other, they will come together. there were announcements of willingness to hold negotiations with the assad regime. the u.s. had set up until now they were not willing to see such a thing come to pass unless assad steps down. russia has said they do not want that. we will see weather some of that

-- whether some of this quiet, bilateral meetings may produce some sort of agreement. then the global energy policy featured big today. why so big on day one? >> it turns out both of the main sessions today were about economic issues. one focused on the future of the eurozone crisis, and the other on oil and gas bonanza in the u.s. basically the question of for acting -- of fracking. people here admit it is undoubtedly a boon for the u.s. that it will soon be energy independent. one of the world's biggest exporters of gas. the fact is people are also concerned in munich that that may mean that the u.s. will be less engaged with the middle east and on middle eastern issues. u.s. officials here were at pains to deny that. there was then also a lot of talk about competitiveness and weather this u.s. oil and gas bonanza will increase its

competitiveness, particularly in manufacturing industries, possibly to the detriment of europe. competitiveness and the economy being recognized here as important factors on the security front as well. >> protests in egypt have again turn violent. opponents of the islamist president have heard -- hurled molotov cocktails at the palace. protesters are demanding his overthrow after the demonstrations in several cities in recent days turn violent and dozens were killed. >> earlier in the day, there were scuffles in the center of tahrir square, the focal point of the revolution that overthrew president hosni mubarak two years ago. protests marking the second anniversary of the uprising that toppled mubarak have killed nearly 60 people since january 25, prompting the head of the army to warned this week that the state was on the verge of

collapse. our correspondent is in cairo for us. we are hearing about water cannon shots being fired. how serious is the tension there at the moment? >> it basically escalated in the last hours. we have peaceful demonstrations at tahrri square and at the presidential palace, but demonstrators tried to break through the barriers at the international palace. police acted with tear gas, then the demonstrators threw molotov cocktails. we have the same blame game going on. the presidency says that the parties who organized the protest are responsible for today's violence while one of the opposition leaders said on twitter that it is morsi who is

fully responsible for the violence that happened to it. >> opposition held talks with the muslim brotherhood. how have members of the opposition reacted? >> it looks like there is political development. when the first came a statement out of the presidency, saying that the presidency is willing to form a committee to possibly rewrite the controversial constitution, then there was a positive reaction from the opposition. there was one meeting where all sides agreed that violence should stop, but it seems like where the opposition was originally calling for peaceful opposition. >> thank you very much for that update. >> a suspected suicide bomber has blown himself up near the u.s. embassy in that turkish capital. the attacker and a security guard are dead.

>> the bomber detonated explosives near a security checkpoint at the side entrance of the building. police have cordoned off the area. the media say the attacker may have come from an outlawed left- wing group. for more on this story now, we are joined by our correspondent in istanbul. how can the turkish authorities be so sure that an extremist leftwing group is behind the attack? >> well, it is suspected that they have managed to get ahold of his identity card, which would have been required for him to enter the premises. he did detonate the bomb in the visa section of the embassy. already, the media have been putting out his name and connecting him with the revolutionary people's liberation party, who have carried out suicide bombings like the sun in the past. only a year ago in a very similar situation, ap station

was hit by a suicide bombing. he is being linked to a number of activities. they are already pretty confident who he is, and they are building up quite a profile in history of the men who has strong connections to bend violent organizations. >> evidence is stacking up. how nervous the country at the moment with all the violence in neighboring syria as well? >> the group has been strongly critical of the arrival of patriot missiles. although the prime minister has been saying it is not likely that it is connected. >> thank you for that.

in mexico city, rescue workers are now in a race against time to find survivors of an explosion that ripped through the offices of the state oil company, pemex. > >> at least 32 people died and hundreds were injured. >> authorities do not know what caused the explosion but say they are not ruling it a bomb attack. >> the explosion happened just of the shift was changing, meaning there were more people than usual in the building. the blast tore through the first four floors, trapping workers inside. those who escaped say they fear for their lives. >> they evacuated the tower, and i was trapped in the elevator, and that scared me. >> police are still searching the rubble for survivors. because of the explosion remains unclear. there are reports the air conditioning system suffered a

meltdown. the government has begun investigations. >> we are using all the resources of authorities to investigate and determine the causes of the disaster. we will wait for the results from experts, and with transparency, we will reveal them. >> the president visited the injured in the hospital last night. his administration is now under pressure to provide answers. pemex, which is controlled by the state, has been plagued by safety failures. 30 people died and a blast at an oil refinery just last year. >> the eurozone economy failed to create more jobs at the end of last year. december marked the full year of contraction in the labor market. unemployment for the euro area as a whole now stands at 11.7%, meaning almost 19 million people are out of work.

greece has the highest level of unemployment in the eu. the latest employment numbers for greece are from october. at that time, nearly 27% of greeks were unemployed. spanish employment levels are not much better. austria, germany, and luxembourg have the best employment numbers, but that's not enough to change a europe-wide trend. eurozone unemployment has been on the rise for the last five years. at the beginning of 2008, the jobless rate stood at 7.2%. today, 11.7% of eurozone residents looking for a job cannot find one. youth unemployment figures are especially worrisome. nearly one in four young people under the age of 25 cannot have a job. youth unemployment in spain tops 55%. >> german lawmakers began debating friday a controversial ban on the far-right party.

the previous attempts to outlaw it failed in 2003. >> this new drive to ban the party came after revelations that a neo-nazi group linked to the npd carried out a decade- long string of racially motivated murders. >> a former high-ranking member of the far right npd is thought to have supplied the weapons used by the new lots is in the recent killings. along with others accused of aiding and abetting the neo-nazi terror cell, he will soon appear in court in munich. >> at the moment, the plan is to begin the trial after the easter holidays, which end on april 6, so i think it will take place around the middle of april. >> it is alleged links with a terror cell of which the only surviving member also goes on trial, which has revived the debate on banning the npd.

parliamentarians say this lends weight to their argument. >> the case one of only seem misshapen. charges also stand against an individual wants high up in the ranks of the npd. that indicates the scope of the danger posed by this movement. >> there's no dispute within the german parliament that the npd is a racist and unconstitutional, but many politicians believe that attempts to ban the party will fail for legal reasons, as it has before. for now, though, it seems supporters of the ban will continue to press their case. >> germany's parliament has voted to give more rights to unmarried fathers. fathers not married to the mother of the children will be able to gain joint custody even if the mother objects. >> the current law gives mothers the final say. germany was forced to change the law after the country's highest

court ruled unmarried fathers were being discriminated against. let's take a short break. we will be back.

>> welcome back. as we mentioned earlier, another major issue at the munich security conference will be energy supplies, and not just how many oil tankers can be protected. there is a greater geopolitical issue at stake. and a boom in cheap gas in the u.s. as a result of fracking will have a huge impact on the country's dependence on middle east oil. america could become a net gas exporter. we have this report. >> this is the future of america's oil industry. in north dakota, the economy is booming. oil companies are using a relatively new technology called fracking to get that oil and gas

reserves kilometers underground. it uses chemicals to break through shale rock and stone. the technology is controversial, but energy experts say the benefits far outweigh the costs. u.s. oil production has exploded in the past couple of years from 23 million cubic meters per day in the year 2000 to 712 million cubic meters today. experts believe the new technology could make the u.s. energy independent within the next 20 years. this would have serious implications for global politics, especially in the middle east. because the u.s. is dependent on middle east oil, it helps maintain security there. the strait of hormuz is the biggest oil route in the world.

the u.s. protect tankers sailing straight. should america stop protecting the waters, the eu may have to take on more responsibility for security there and for the entire middle east. europe already helps keep waters safe around the horn of africa. russia would also feel the effects of an energy independent america. u.s. oil production has put downward pressure on oil prices, but oil -- -- is heavily dependent on oil and gas, which supply of to half of all government revenues. it plays a large part in funding government wages, pensions, public projects, and as a byproduct, political stability. >> earlier, we spoke with a foreign policy spokesman, one of angela merkel christian democrats, and we asked about what international security had to do with energy policy. >> country and a new chance for

them because they would be a major decrease of the prices for energy in america. because of the shale gas and crude oil debate, this would change the geopolitical situation also in the middle east because not any longer setting arabia will be the field station for america. maybe this will change in 10 or 15 years. this is part of this conference. m staying with the energy sector, a u.s. oil giant, exxon mobil's, has posted 2012 earnings just shy of $45 billion. yes, that was billion. the second highest ever for a publicly held company, despite slight declines in its oil and gas business, the company improve its bottom line by about 6% compared to 2011. strong performance from exxon's refinery division helped drive the growth. the $45 billion mark is just a couple hundred million dollars shy of the all-time record set

back in 2008 by -- you guessed it -- exxon. better than expected employment data out of the united states along with positive earnings numbers fueled strong gains this friday. our correspondent said as the summary of the trading session in frankfurt. >> the people here on the frankfurt floor seemed headed for a quiet end to the week, but then the united states came into the picture. economic news came in first from the labor market. it was so-so, but then data came from the housing market and from the manufacturing sector, and both looked much better than people expected, pointing to expansion for the world's largest economy. that sent the dax up. also share prices on wall street. it also sent the euro up, now trading at a very high level, one of the guinness this week. the dax clearly up for the day. this week was not such a good one for the week.

the dax is just a slight loser. >> let's take a quick run through friday's numbers, starting off with the dax. it finished up by points of a 5%. the euro stoxx 50 in positive territory as well. the dow at this hour of the more than 1%. the bureau, as we heard, strong against the greenback, trading at a value of $1.3666. >> it is just one day after the "new york times" reported a hackensack american firms. "wall street journal also confirms systematic hacker attacks believed to be coming from china. >> the newspapers say hackers hunted for files related to chinese stores including investigation into the family of the premier. >> china has rejected the suggestion that its military may have conducted the attacks. >> the "new york times" says its computer systems have been infiltrated repeatedly over recent months. >> we are a certain as we can be

that this had all the hallmarks of an attack by chinese military hackers. >> but beijing has denied this, saying chinese law forbids hacking. >> there is no evidence for this. these allegations are groundless. >> the first attacks coincided with an investigation into the private fortune of the chinese premier's family. a chinese translation of an article was posted on line last october. and many of the cyber attacks have targeted the reporter. >> they were mostly after david barr boasts of's e-mail on both his "new york times" account and any other accounts they could find -- after david barr boasts a -- after david barbosa's email. >> the toy fair is under way

right now. >> plenty of fun and safe, but this year's show comes with a bit of a health warning. some of these innocuous looking toys contain harmful elements like lead, arsenic, mercury, and cadmium. to protect families and children, germany has produced strict regulations concerning the level of toxic elements allowed in toys, but the eu wants to loosen those regulations. >> full of brave knights and bloodthirsty pirates, children's playrooms can be colorful and a source of adventure, but more often than not, the heroes and villains of these fantasy world contain plastics. this room is full of plastic toys. her parents say that worries them, but they cannot stop the influx. >> definitely 90% are made of plastic, which we do not want. they just keep collecting, piece by piece. we never wanted to buy plastic

toys, but the grandparents like them because everything imaginable is made of plastic. >> but many toys can be harmful. with heavy metals in the paint or chemical softeners in the plastic. little children tend to put things in amounts, and tests repeatedly revealed toxic mixtures in toys. with the new eu directive on toy safety, those levels will rise. for example, toy makers will be allowed to order double the content of acutely poisonous lead, and the list of dangerous substances in toys is long. germany's federal institute for risk assessment has taken legal action against the eu. >> on the one hand, there are the heavy metals. one of those is lead. then there are the substances that are carcinogenic, mutagenic, or toxic to reproduction. there, we also want to keep or

tighten the old standards. a third field as a telegenic substances, which can cause allergic reactions on contact, including nickel and fragrances. we also want levels of those to be reduced below what the commission recommends. >> the new directive is due to take effect in july, but germany's lawsuit that the european court will be ruled on in 2014. by then, toys with elevated levels of toxic substances will already be on the european market. >> now, a little bit of history. it is the united states' most iconic train station -- new york's grand central station. >> 100 years ago in 1913, the first conductors in of "all aboard" setting in motion a story of how america moved through the 20th century. >> new york as the grand central station has stood the test of time. the bustling station through which hundreds of thousands of commuters pass every day.

it is the largest in the world, but the journey has not always been smooth. construction on the terminal was completed in 1913. the building served both commuter and long-distance trains. it quickly became one of the city's landmarks and the busiest station in the whole of the united states. visitors today are still fascinated by the building. >> every single day, more than -- a lot more than -- 750,000 people come through grand central terminal. that is the entire population of the entire state of alaska walk through here every day. >> but the station came on hard times when the glory days of real trouble pass. in the 1960's, plans to demolish the building were under way until jackie kennedy stepped in. she brought the battle to preserve the terminal all the way to the supreme court hearing the ruling paved the way for

preservation efforts around the country. now, a century after its construction, a thriving grand central station is once again in celebration mode. >> you are watching the "journal" on dw. >> more news at the top of the hour. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org--